HEALING IN NATURE

BENEFITS FOR MIND, BODY & SOUL

MENTAL HEALTH BENEFITS OF OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

This paper investigates potential mental health benefits of outdoor and adventure education programs. It is argued that experiences made in successful programs can increase self-efficacy, mindfulness and subjective well-being.

THE RESTORATIVE BENEFITS OF NATURE

Directed attention plays an important role in human information processing; its fatigue, in turn, has far-reaching consequences. Attention Restoration Theory provides an analysis of the kinds of experiences that lead to recovery from such fatigue. Natural environments turn out to be particularly rich in the characteristics necessary for restorative experiences.

More than 50% of people now live in urban areas. By 2050 this proportion will be 70%. Urbanization is associated with increased levels of mental illness, but it’s not yet clear why. Through a controlled experiment, researchers investigated whether nature experience would influence rumination (repetitive thought focused on negative aspects of the self), a known risk factor for mental illness.

TAKE A HIKE! THE IMPACT OF ADVENTURE-BASED LEARNING ON PSYCHOLOGICAL WELLBEING IN TROUBLED YOUTH

Adventure based learning (ABL) programs involve experiential learning combined with outdoor recreation. These activities push students outside of their comfort zone often resulting in learning and personal growth. A variety of psychological outcomes have been associated with participation in ABL programs, including improved self efficacy, self esteem, resilience, general well-being and internalized focus of control.

THE IMPACT OF CHILDREN'S EXPOSURE TO GREENSPACE ON PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT AND EMOTIONAL WELLBEING

The current study utilized objective techniques to investigate the relationship between children's time spent in green space (open land covered in grass or other vegetation) with various physical and psychological variables. Potential relationships between physical activity and green space with body composition, emotional wellbeing, sensation seeking tendencies, ability to appraise risk and cognitive development are investigated.

THE MENTAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH OUTCOMES OF GREEN EXERCISE

Both physical activity and exposure to nature are known separately to have positive effects on physical and mental health. This study investigates whether there is a synergistic benefit in adopting physical activities whilst being directly exposed to nature.

STRESS RECOVERY DURING EXPOSURE TO NATURAL AND URBAN ENVIRONMENTS

Different conceptual perspectives converge to predict that if individuals are stressed, an encounter with most unthreatening natural environments will have a stress reducing or restorative influence, whereas many urban environments will hamper recuperation.

INDOOR ROCK CLIMBING (BOULDERING) AS A NEW TREATMENT FOR DEPRESSION

Depression is one of the most common diseases in industrialized nations. Physical activity is regarded as an important part of therapeutic intervention. Rock climbing or bouldering comprises many aspects that are considered useful, but until now, there has been hardly any research on the effects of a bouldering group intervention on people with depression.

CREATIVITY IN THE WILD: IMPROVING COGNITIVE REASONING THROUGH IMMERSION IN NATURAL SETTINGS

This study shows that four days of immersion in nature and the corresponding disconnection from multi-media and technology increases performance on a creative, problem-solving task by a full 50 percent in a group of naive hikers. The results demonstrate that there is a cognitive advantage to be realized if we spend time immersed in a natural setting.

This study tests the hypothesis that exposure to nature stimuli restores depleted voluntary attention capacity and affects selective attention. The results suggest that reduced autonomic arousal during the video engendered less selective attention in the nature group compared to the urban group.

STUDENT PERFORMANCE AND HIGH SCHOOL LANDSCAPES: EXAMINING THE LINKS

High school students today are experiencing unprecedented levels of school-related stress. At the same time, a growing body of research linked views of nature with restoration from mental fatigue and stress reduction. How important are such views for students while they are at school? This study investigated public high schools in southeastern Michigan to examine the role played by the availability of nearby nature in student academic achievement and behavior.

THE EMPOWERING VARIABILITY OF AFFORDANCES OF NATURE

Why do exercisers feel better after performing the same exercize in natural environments than in indoor environments? Evidence suggests that 'green exercise' (defined as physical activity in natural environments) provides an important context for health-enhancing physical activity, offering opportunities for (mental) health and well-being outcomes, compared to urban/manufactured environments.

THE EMPOWERING VARIABILITY OF AFFORDANCES OF NATURE

Why do exercisers feel better after performing the same exercize in natural environments than in indoor environments? Evidence suggests that 'green exercise' (defined as physical activity in natural environments) provides an important context for health-enhancing physical activity, offering opportunities for (mental) health and well-being outcomes, compared to urban/manufactured environments.

PSYCHOLOGICAL RESTORATION IN NATURE AS A POSITIVE MOTIVATION FOR ECOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR

The authors hypothesized that people who see greater potential for restorative experiences in natural environments also do more to protect them by behaving ecologically, as with recycling or reduced driving.